“A Bowie Celebration was headed up by his longest serving sideman, the brilliant pianist Mike Garson…The opportunity to hear him play his spine-tingling solo from Aladdin Sane was worth the price of admission alone…The Ziggy Stardust album was well represented throughout by the rip-roaring likes of Rock’n’Roll Suicide and Suffragette City, and the encore was given over to the show-stopping Life on Mars and a booming Heroes. But there was also space for a connoisseur diversion to the sublime Young Americans album track Win and an infernal take on spooky swansong Lazarus before Fowler and Glover teamed up for a triumphant Under Pressure which, like the rest of the set, allowed them to show off their chops while staying true to the spirit of the original recordings.”

— The Scotsman (Scotland’s national newspaper), 1/11/19 four star review

of the show at the O2 Academy, Glasgow

Following last year’s critically acclaimed tour, A BOWIE CELEBRATION: The David Bowie Alumni Tourhas returned in 2019. It just launched last week in Europe–and will touch down in North America with 33 shows starting February 6 and wrapping March 22 (*see the tour dates below). Tickets are on sale now: http://www.abowiecelebration.com/#tickets

This unforgettable evening of David Bowie’s songs features keyboardist and band leader Mike Garson and fellow key alumni musicians of Bowie’s bands from across the decades. Expect powerful performances from Garson, EarlSlick, Carmine Rojas, Charlie Sexton and Mark Plati (*performing on the tour’s first five shows), plus world-class vocalists such as Bernard Fowler and Corey Glover, with additional guest vocalists on various dates including Bowie alum Emm Gryner, Emmy and Golden Globe-nominated Evan Rachel Wood, Grammy nominee Gaby Moreno and many more. *Read a Q&A with Garson below.

Garson heads up the alumni asthe longest-standing member of Bowie’s bands, performed with David at his first and last concerts in the United States as well as 1,000 concerts together around the globe in between. The band also features legendary guitarist Earl Slick, who worked on landmark Bowie albums such as Diamond Dogs, Young Americans and Reality; and Bowie’s Let’s Dance/Serious Moonlight Tour bassist Carmine Rojas. Between them, they have over 30 years experience of recording, writing and playing live with Bowie.

During last year’s trek, Emmy and Golden Globe-nominated actress (“Westworld”) and singer (Rebel and A Basketcase) Evan Rachel Wood joined the all-star band to sing a variety of songs at the Los Angeles and Atlanta shows and was seen on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” in April raving about the tour. As Wood explained to Fallon, “It’s not a cover band, it’s the band! It’s the actual band, so when you’re there it sounds as close as you’re going to get to Bowie.” Other special guests who joined the 2018 run included Perry Farrell, Joe Sumner, Fantastic Negrito, Mark Plati, Mr Hudson, David Liebman, Gaby Moreno and Sass Jordan.

Q&A with MIKE GARSON

Congratulations on the launch of the 2019 tour, which has started in Europe. Can you tell us a little about how this tour might be different than the 2018 ABC dates?

“We’ve added a bunch of new songs from David we haven’t played in the past including Cracked Actor, Sweet Thing/Candidate, TVC 15 and more. The big Bowie fans have been asking for some of these deeper tracks along with the wide array of hits from across the decades. In North America we’ll have the super talented Charlie Sexton on guitar and vocals. Charlie and David were friends and performed together on the Glass Spider tour–Charlie was his special guest performer for the filming of the shows on that tour in Sydney. We’ve also added the amazing Corey Glover from Living Colour to join the always remarkable fan favorite Bernard Fowler from The Rolling Stones. In North America, like before, we’ll have a variety of special guests with us along the way. It’s a really amazing show–we’re looking forward to being back in North America with all the fans.”

What goes into creating the set list…hits, deep cuts…and achieving a balance that encompasses the artistry of Bowie?

“Wow, that’s a really hard job for us as there are so many amazing songs to choose from. My playlist alone has about 120 songs and on tour we have 50 in our library from which we pull our set each night. We go from huge hit to lesser known masterpieces, all the way from David’s first songs to his last and everything in between. It’s such a special night of magical music–each show is different from the last but just as special.”

Audiences have been wildly enthusiastic about the performances…what’s it like for you and your bandmates to feed off this energy throughout the show?

“It’s truly indescribable to accurately put into words. Our audiences are singing every word to each song and it often feels like a campfire on steroids. The love, the dedication, the collective appreciation and celebration for David is palpable each night. Fans who have been with us before know how special this is, and new audiences coming for the first time are about to join the club with the rest of us!”

As you perform every night, can you talk about how David Bowie is present in your mind? “One way or another, David is continuously there with us. He’s on stage each night, in the audience and always in the very essence of each song. We do these shows for the fans who’ve loved David and his music, and for those who are new to his music-they’re about to get hooked. Through this process of the celebration of his music, we do these shows for David who is a constant presence in our minds, hearts and soul.”

Catch A BOWIE CELEBRATION: The David Bowie Alumni Tourin the following North American cities: